By sunset, Elias Crowe knew the stranger had not come to his ranch by accident.

The old gunslinger stopped beside the fence and stared at him.

“You lost, stranger?” Elias asked.

“No,” the man replied. “I finally found you.”

Elias reached toward his revolver.

The stranger pulled an old photograph from his coat. Elias froze. It showed his father, a man who had been dead for twenty-four years.

“Where did you get that?”

“Your father gave it to me.”

Before Elias could respond, the stranger pointed toward the distant ridge. Several armed riders were watching the ranch.

Then he handed Elias the photograph.

On its back, Elias found seven words written in his father’s handwriting:

“If they return, don’t trust the sheriff.”

A rifle suddenly cracked across the valley.

The stranger grabbed Elias and pulled him behind the cabin.

“They’ve finally come back,” he whispered.

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